BOX SCORE

MANKATO, Minn. – No. 12 ranked and conference leading Minnesota State, Mankato used a late 9-0 run to earn a hard-fought 84-76 victory over Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday in Mankato, Minn.

MSU earns its fifth straight victory and improves to 12-1 overall, 8-1 in the NSIC. SMSU drops its second straight game and is now 6-7 overall, 3-6 NSIC.

Matt Zager gave SMSU a 72-71 lead with five minutes and 17 seconds left in the game, but MSU answered with the decisive run over the next three minutes to build an 80-72 lead with two minutes left. SMSU trimmed the lead to 80-76 with 1:01 remaining in the game, but that was as close as the Mustangs would come.

Jefferson Mason scored a game-high 23 points with 11 rebounds to lead the Mavericks, who finished the game connecting on 25 of 34 free throws in the game.

Jordan Miller paced SMSU with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Scott Roehl added 15 points and seven rebounds. Vinard Birch had a solid game for the Mustangs recording career-highs in both points (10) and assists (7).

MSU finished the game scoring 24 points off of SMSU turnovers and held an 18-6 advantage in second chance points.

Roehl started the game strong for SMSU scoring nine of the team's first 13 points on 4 of 4 shooting, as the two teams were tied at 13-13 with 14:29 left in the opening half. The Mustangs took their first lead since the game's opening minute on a 3-point field goal by Jordan Miller at the 12:52 mark to give SMSU a 17-16 lead.

A pair of Miller free throws gave SMSU a 22-19 with 11:43 left, before MSU answered with a 12-0 run to build a 31-22 lead at the 8:17 mark. SMSU answered with its own run, scoring six straight, to cut the margin to 31-28 following a pair of Taylor Huseby free throws.

MSU pushed the lead to nine at 46-37 late in the first half before Trent Carlson drilled a 3-pointer from the right-corner to cut the deficit to 46-40 at halftime.

The Mavericks made 19 of 25 free throws in the first half, compared to just 9 of 12 by SMSU. SMSU shot 48.3 percent (14 of 29) from the field in the opening half, including 3 of 10 from 3-point range. Miller led the Mustangs with 11 first half points, while Roehl finished with nine points.

SMSU started the second half strong, connecting on four of its five shots, pulling to within 51-49 with 16:47 remaining following a dunk and 3-pointer by Miller.

Trailing 59-53, a three-point play by SMSU's Nick Smith, trimmed the MSU lead to 59-56 with 12:35 remaining, but a 7-0 run by the Mavericks in the next minute extending the margin to 66-56.

The Mustangs wouldn't go away and regained the lead using an 8-0 run to take 72-71 lead with 5:17 left in the game following a lay-up by Zager, but that was the last lead for SMSU as the Mavericks responded with the game-clinching 9-0 run.

SMSU ended the game shooting 48.3 percent (26 of 55) from the field, but was just 4 of 16 from 3-point range.

SMSU continues its road trip next weekend with a conference match-up at the University of Mary on Friday, Jan. 14, starting at 8 p.m. SMSU will wrap-up the first half of the NSIC season on Saturday, Jan. 15, with a road game at Northern State. The Mustangs will have played seven of its first 11 conference games on the road, but will close the season with seven of its final 11 at the R/A Facility.